The  Progress  of 
a  Gener action 


Rev.  F.  F.  ELLIN  WOOD,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

Senior  Secretary  of  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  JJ.S.A.  He  was  elected 
Secretary  March  31,  1871. 


I 


1 


The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  U.S.A.,  156  Fifth  Ave.,  New  York. 


The  Progress  of  a  Generation** 

By  Rev.  F.  F.  Ellinwood,  D.D. 

In  measuring  distances  it  is  well  to  set 
stakes  and  establish  points  of  departure;  so 
in  considering  the  progress  of  the  world, — 
religious,  educational,  social,  governmental 
or  commercial, — one  is  enabled  to  obtain  a 
clearer  view  by  marking  off  periods  of  time 
and  comparing  the  conditions  of  different 
dates.  In  looking  back  over  something  more 
than  thirty  years  of  experience  in  the  work 
of  missions  and  the  general  advancement  of 
mankind  an  impressive  conception  is  gained 
of  the  rate  of  the  world’s  progress. 

Thirty  years  ago  there  was  published  a 
tabular  exhibit  of  missionary  work  which 
placed  the  number  of  communicants  in  the 
Protestant  missions  of  the  world  at  about 
500,000,  the  number  of  pupils  in  schools  of  all 
grades  at  450,000,  the  number  of  missionaries 
at  2,300,  and  the  native  helpers  of  all  classes 
at  18,500.  A  total  of  85,725,000  was  raised  by 
all  boards  and  societies. 

According  to  the  most  recent  statistics  we 
find  that  the  present  totals  show  1,550,729 
communicants  in  mission  churches,  1,051  466 
pupils  in  schools,  total  number  of  missionaries 

*  Address  delivered  before  Conference  with  Newly  Ap¬ 
pointed  Missionaries,  June,  1902,  Board  Rooms,  156  Fifth 
Ave. 


18,682,  native  helpers  of  all  classes  79,396, 
while  the  income  from  home  and  foreign 
sources,  is  $20,079,698  per  annum. 

The  number  of  communicants  connected 
with  the  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Board 
thirty-two  years  ago  was  2,047,  the  number 
of  missionaries  84,  pupils  in  schools  7,465. 
This  one  Board  is  now  raising  about  a  million 
of  dollars  each  year,  and  its  total  member¬ 
ship  in  mission  fields  is  nearly  45.000.  But 
these  figures  give  only  a  faint  conception  of 
the  general  advance  of  Christianity  in  the 
world.  For  while  missionary  effort  is  limited, 
the  providence  of  God  controls  many  agen¬ 
cies,  direct  and  indirect,  and  the  influence  of 
these  is  so  blended  that  it  would  be  difficult, 
even  if  it  were  necessary  or  desirable,  to  trace 
their  separate  action  and  accord  to  each  its 
proper  results. 

If  we  go  back  thirty  years  or  more  for  a 
survey  of  conditions,  what  was  the  general 
outlook  thirty  years  ago  ?  In  our  own  coun¬ 
try  the  Civil  War  had  but  recently  closed, 
and  the  work  of  reconstruction  had  only  be¬ 
gun.  That  conflict  had  not  only  brought  ter¬ 
rible  devastations  upon  the  land,  and  dotted 
it  over  with  graves  of  young  and  vigorous  fel¬ 
low  citizens,  but  it  had  left  different  sections 
of  the  country  still  alienated.  Our  missionary 
organizations,  Home  and  Foreign,  were 
greatly  crippled.  Many  of  the  new  States 
were  still  undeveloped  and  ungoverned  terri¬ 
tories  which  seemed  to  need  the  undivided 
effort  of  the  Church.  Instead  of  all  this  we 
now  behold  a  land  at  peace  from  ocean  to 
ocean,  with  sectional  divisions  and  jealousies 
removed,  with  a  degree  of  commercial  and 
agricultural  prosperity  never  before  known 
in  any  land,  with  the  mission  treasuries  of  all 
boards  and  societies  free  from  debt,  and  all 


4 


denominations  ready  to  enter  with  new  zeal 
upon  the  conquest  of  the  world  for  Christ. 

Our  national  domain  has  by  recent  events 
been  greatly  extended  in  both  hemispheres, 
and  our  country,  which  was  almost  despised 
as  a  factor  in  world  problems,  is  now  recog¬ 
nized  as  one  of  the  leading  forces  among  the 
nations.  Especially  is  this  true  in  the  direc¬ 
tion  of  international  comity  and  an  enlarged 
philanthropy. 

Japan  at  the  period  named  has  indeed  been 
opened  to  foreign  influence,  but  the  work  of 
regeneration  had  only  begun.  When  I  visited 
Japan,  in  1874,  the  total  Protestant  Church 
membership  in  that  country  could  have  been 
seated  in  this  room,  leaving  space  for  as  many 
more.  I  attended  the  first  Christian  funeral 
ever  known  in  that  empire,  and  heard  two  of 
the  halt'  dozen  native  preachers  who  had  then 
entered  the  service.  The  national  energies 
which  were  aroused  by  the  Japano-Chinese 
War  had  not  yet  been  dreamed  of.  Japan 
had  not  received  a  constitution.  Her  treaties 
with  other  nations  had  not  been  placed  upon 
a  high  and  prosperous  basis. 

The  dawn  of  progress  in  China  had  scarcely 

yet  appeared.  The  great  movement  in  Africa 

toward  the  discovery  and  development  of  the 

inferior  and  unknown  regions  had  not  begun. 

Stanley  had  not  made  his  trans  continental 

explorations.  The  story  of  the  Congo  and  the 

true  sources  of  the  Nile  were  yet  unknown. 

Uganda  had  not  uttered  that  stirring  appeal 

to  the  churches  of  Christendom  which  has 

wrought  such  changes  in  our  day,  and  which 

out  of  much  tribulation  struck  the  kevnote  of 

«/ 

one  of  the  most  wonderful  developments  of 
Christian  faith  and  Christian  living  which  the 
world  has  seen.  Korea  was  still  the  Hermit 
Nat  ion.  Roman  Catholic  Christianity,  which 


5 


at  one  time  had  taken  root  there,  had  been 
well  nigh  extirpated.  Brazil  was  still  an  em¬ 
pire,  dominated  to  a  large  extent  by  Papal 
supremacy  and  intolerance.  Mexico  had 
overthrown  the  Franco-Austrian  dominion 
which  had  threatened  her  liberties  and  her 
religious  welfare,  but  was  yet  in  an  experi¬ 
mental  stage,  and  only  the  smallest  beginnings 
of  progress  in  free  thought  and  in  emanci¬ 
pated  faith  had  been  made.  No  railroads  had 
crossed  the  American  border,  and  the  tide  of 
American  immigration  and  commercial  influ¬ 
ence  had  not  begun.  Spanish  tyranny  and 
the  death  like  paralysis  of  all  progressive 
movements  and  influences  rested  upon  the 
Spanish  West  Indies,  and  the  corrupt  domin¬ 
ion  of  the  Spanish  friars  held  the  Philippines 
tightly  in  its  grasp. 

Compared  with  all  this  we  see  to-day  in 
Japan  a  youthful  though  a  historically  an¬ 
cient  nation,  stepping  to  the  front  rank  as  a 
civilized  power,  with  constitutional  govern¬ 
ment,  and  with  military  and  naval  resources 
of  the  very  first  order.  Her  university  edu¬ 
cation  and  common  school  system,  her  con 
cessions  to  popular  liberty,  her  skill  in  states¬ 
manship,  her  treatment  of  prisoners  taken  in 
battle,  the  example  of  her  noble  Empress  in 
ministering  sanitary  relief,  her  hospitals  and 
orphanages  and  other  eleemosynary  institu¬ 
tions,  have  won  for  her  a  high  place  in  the 
respect  of  all  mankind. 

Of  China,  considering  its  commercial,  edu¬ 
cational  and  social  conditions  and  opportuni¬ 
ties,  Dr.  W.  A.  P.  Martin  said  to  me  not 
many  days  since  that  in  forty  years  he  had 
never  seen  that  great  empire  in  so  favorable 
an  attitude  toward  the  development  of  Chris¬ 
tianity  and  all  civilizing  and  elevating  influ¬ 
ences  as  at  the  present  day.  The  war  with 

6 


Japan,  and  still  more  the  awful  tragedies  and 
humiliations  of  the  Celestial  nation  in  the 
last  two  years,  have  been  overruled  for  this 
result.  The  bigoted  illusions  of  the  Dowager 
Empress  and  her  court  have  lost  their  fatal 
spell.  The  great  empire  has  learned  a  lesson 
and  has  already  begun  to  move.  Dr.  Martin, 
on  his  homeward  journey,  received  two  tele¬ 
grams  asking  him  to  accept  the  presidency 
of  Chinese  universities,  one  in  Shansi  and 
another  in  Hupeh.  He  has  accepted  the  lat¬ 
ter,  for  which  he  finds  special  guarantees  in 
the  fact  that  his  patron  is  the  well  known 
Chang  Chi  Tung,  author  of  that  remarkable 
book,  “  China’s  Only  Hope.”  The  University 
of  Shansi  is  to  be  established  under  the  presi¬ 
dency  of  another  former  missionary,  Rev. 
Timothy  Richard.  A  great  educational  move¬ 
ment  has  also  been  started  in  Southern  China. 

Korea  is  now  wide  open  and  presents  in 
some  respects  perhaps  the  most  promising 
mission  field  in  the  world.  The  brief  cable¬ 
gram  which  said  to  Dr.  H.  N.  Allen  “Go  to 
Korea,”  is  so  fresh  in  memory  after  a  lapse  of 
eighteen  years  that  it  seems  only  a  matter  of 
yesterday. 

Cuba,  emancipated  from  the  thralldom  of 
Spain,  cleansed  from  unsanitary  defilement 
and  the  constant  development  of  disease, 
trained  for  three  years  in  civil  government, 
schooled  in  the  best  methods  of  education, 
inspired  with  true  patriotic  pride  and  ambi¬ 
tion,  thrown  wide  open  to  Protestant  relig¬ 
ious  influence,  has  recently  been  invested 
with  the  independence  of  a  republic. 

Porto  Rico,  Hawaii  and  the  Philippines 
have  come  under  the  aegis  of  our  American 
flag,  and  are  making  rapid  progress  in  all  di¬ 
rections. 

Of  the  Philippines,  Gov.  Taft  has  recently 


given  an  interesting  account  of  the  distribu¬ 
tion  of  a  thousand  American  teachers,  scat¬ 
tered  through  five  hundred  different  towns  of 
the  archipelago,  and  given  emphasis  to  his 
prediction  that  the  rising  generation  will 
speak  the  English  tongue.  And,  although  he 
believes  that  a  long  time  will  be  necessary  to 
prepare  these  islands  for  self-government,  so 
gigantic  and  difficult  is  the  task,  yet  nowhere 
in  the  world  have  steps  toward  that  result 
been  more  rapid. 

In  Africa,  the  problem  of  the  Congo  is 
solved,  and  not  only  Western  civilization  but 
Christianity  is  advancing  to  the  very  heart  of 
the  continent  from  the  West,  while  in  Uganda 
and  Eastern  Soudan,  England  has  conquered 
a  peace,  and  good  government  with  freedom 
of  religion  has  been  established.  Egypt,  on 
the  North,  and  last  of  all  a  unified  British 
dominion  in  the  South,  have  given  new  as¬ 
surances  of  peace  in  all  Eastern  Africa,  and 
of  the  opening  up  of  railroad  communication 
at  no  distant  day  from  Cairo  to  Cape  Town. 

In  our  Western  Hemisphere,  Brazil  has  now 
joined  the  array  of  republics  which  compass 
the  shores  of  South  America  along  both 
oceans. 

Mexico  seems  thoroughly  established  with 
good  government  and  a  fair  measure  of  re¬ 
ligious  freedom.  A  wonderful  contrast  to 
the  Mexico  which  some  of  us  still  remember ! 

In  the  present  generation  Alaska  has  been 
added  to  our  national  domain  and,  in  spite  of 
unpromising  beginnings  and  many  dark 
prophecies  of  failure,  has  astonished  the 
world.  Mission  stations  now  dot  the  coast 
even  in  the  extreme  north,  penetrating  far 
within  the  frozen  gates  of  the  Arctic  Ocean. 
As  a  proof  of  the  rapidity  with  which  our 
American  Church  life  in  all  its  manifold  de- 


8 


velopments  spreads  over  our  new  possessions, 
the  small  cities  of  Sitka  and  Juneau  are  oc¬ 
cupied  by  churches  of  from  five  to  seven  de¬ 
nominations. 

Conditions  in  Europe  have  wonderfully  im¬ 
proved  in  our  generation.  Napoleonism  has 
perished  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  Prot¬ 
estant  Germany  has  gained  a  power  and  pres¬ 
tige  never  before  known  on  the  Continent, 
and,  although  the  world  has  Russia  yet  to 
reckon  with  in  Europe  and  the  Far  East,  the 
progress  of  international  arbitration  and 
other  results  of  the  recent  Peace  compact, 
proposed  by  the  Czar  himself,  give  fair  prom¬ 
ise  that  wars  of  national  jealousy  and  ambi 
tion  are  to  be  discredited  from  this  time 
forth. 

But  while  these  geographical  and  political 
movements  have  shown  changes  for  the  better, 
there  has  been  marked  advancement  in  much 
more  important  matters.  The  new  forces 
added  to  Christian  propagandism  have  greatly 
advanced  in  power  and  influence.  Woman's 
work  for  woman  as  a  missionary  agency  had 
only  sprung  up  within  our  time,  but  is  now 
recognized  as  one  of  the  most  spiritual  and 
effective  of  all  the  forces  which  Christianity 
has  developed.  In  the  same  period,  Young 
Men’s  Christian  Association  work  has  widened 
out  into  a  foreign  missionary  force  and  is  ex¬ 
erting  a  harmonizing  and  unifying  influence 
over  all  the  religious  interests  of  the  world. 
It  is  a  special  movement  of  Christianity  and 
good  morals  among  the  young  men  of  all 
creeds  and  lands,  and  all  races.  The  Student 
Volunteer  Movement  has  proved  to  be  not  a 
transient  impulse,  but  a  steady  and  wonder¬ 
ful  force.  The  development  of  Christian  En¬ 
deavor  Societies,  now  extending  into  all  lands, 
has  enlisted  the  young  of  both  sexes  in  a  cru- 


9 


sade  more  sublime  and  far  more  truly  Chris¬ 
tian  than  those  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

It  is  another  auspicious  fact  that  our  gen¬ 
eration  has  developed,  as  no  other  age  of  the 
Church  has  done,  the  co  operation  of  the 
laity. 

Applied  Christianity  has  ceased  to  be  a 
function  merely  of  the  priestly  class;  the  old 
pulpits  of  our  fathers  have  descended  in  more 
senses  than  one  much  nearer  to  the  level  of 
the  pew.  The  body  of  the  Church  has  ceased 
to  be  a  flock  and  has  become  an  army.  The 
idea  now  prevails  that  everybody,  old  and 
young,  has  a  work  to  do.  This  is  true  not 
merely  of  the  multiplied  forms  of  Sabbath- 
school  work,  Church  work,  settlement  work, 
rescue  work,  etc.,  but  the  change  pervades 
all  society.  It  has  become  fashionable  with 
our  great  universities  to  elect  lay  presidents. 
Our  Board  of  Missions  has  chosen  a  lay  Secre¬ 
tary,  and  he  does  as  much  preaching  as  any 
of  us,  and  does  it  as  well.  Even  the  General 
Assembly  has  now  a  lay  Vice  Moderator,  and 
the  time  may  be  near  when  it  will  lay  aside 
the  “Vice.”  It  is  certainly  necessary  that 
all  classes  of  believers  shall  be  subsidized  and 
mobilized  if  the  world  is  to  be  won  to  Christ, 
and  the  trend  is  now  in  that  direction. 

There  have  been  wonderful  changes  in  all 
the  humanitarian  elements  of  our  Christian 
civilization.  In  Foreign  Missions  the  medical 
work  has  been  almost  entirely  developed 
within  the  memory  of  some  who  still  live. 
All  missionary  organizations  are  now  pro¬ 
ceeding  on  that  rational  principle  taught  by 
the  word  and  example  of  Christ,  namely : 
bearing  bodily  relief  in  one  hand  and  the  sal¬ 
vation  of  the  soul  in  the  other.  In  the  num¬ 
ber  of  medical  missionaries  it  is  a  matter  of 
just  pride  that  our  own  Board  is  thus  far  in 


10 


the  lean.  The  establishment  of  permanent 
hospitals  and  dispensaries  has  advanced  in  all 
the  great  mission  fields,  and  coupled  with  this 
advance  there  has  been  a  corresponding  prog¬ 
ress  in  the  training  of  native  physicians. 

Added  to  the  missionary  efforts  made  along 
these  lines  many  accessory  influences  have 
sprung  up.  In  some  countries,  as  in  Japan, 
the  Government  has  established  hospitals, 
while  the  efforts  of  Lady  Dufferin  in  India 
have  initiated  a  widespread  system  of  medi¬ 
cal  education  for  women,  who  shall  go  forth 
by  the  hundreds,  and  we  hope  ere  long  by  the 
thousands,  to  relieve  the  sufferings  of  their 
sex.  If  nothing  else  had  been  accomplished 
in  the  last  thirty  years,  the  awakening  of  the 
Christian  world  to  a  noble  philanthropy  for 
the  relief  of  the  sick  and  the  maimed  would 
repay  for  all  the  outlay  that  has  been  made. 

In  connection  with  the  relief  afforded  by 
medical  mission  work,  mention  may  be  made 
of  the  ameliorations  of  modern  warfare.  In 
some  respects  wars  are  more  decisive  and 
perhaps  more  bloody  than  ever  before,  but 
wanton  cruelty  toward  the  conquered,  or  cold 
indifference  and  neglect  toward  the  wounded 
and  dying,  are  no  longer  factors.  The  Red 
Cross  movement,  which  has  enlisted  the  noble 
philanthropy  of  so  many  American  and  Euro 
pean  women,  the  concessions  of  all  armies 
made  in  favor  of  the  angels  of  mercy  who 
visit  the  battlefields  between  the  hostile  lines 
for  the  relief  of  the  wounded  and  dying — 
these  present  a  grand  and  inspiring  spectacle 
— these,  too,  are  the  results  of  Christian  sym¬ 
pathy  and  the  increase  of  a  helpful  spirit  the 
world  over. 

Again  this  generation  has  been  distin¬ 
guished  by  frequent  and  widespread  systems 
of  famine  relief.  In  the  last  thirty  years 

11 


Christian  churches  of  America  and  of  Europe 
have  again  and  again  been  called  upon  for 
the  relief  of  starving  ones  in  China,  Armenia 
and  other  parts  of  Turkey,  and  especially  of 
late  in  India.  The  hearts  of  all  humane  peo¬ 
ple,  Christian  or  otherwise,  have  been  touched 
by  the  appalling  revelations  of  want  and  the 
slow,  wasting  death  of  the  famished  in  India 
and  other  lands  less  favored  than  ours ;  and 
inadequate  as  the  relief  may  have  been,  a 
spontaneous  movement  of  kindliness  and 
charity  has  been  witnessed.  Coupled  with 
this  relief  of  the  starving,  orphanages  have 
been  established  everywhere  in  the  track  of 
this  wholesale  devastation.  The  sentiment  of 
sympathy  on  the  part  of  the  prosperous  and 
well-to-do  for  their  destitute  and  suffering 
fellow- men  has  everywhere  been  developed 
and  strengthened.  None  need  to  be  reminded 
of  the  fact  that  the  impelling  force  in  all 
these  manifold  developments  of  philanthropy 
has  sprung  from  the  enterprise  of  Christian 
missions.  Missionaries  have  brought  the 
world  together  by  their  appeals,  by  the 
masses  of  facts  which  have  been  gathered, 
for  example,  by  such  writers  as  Dr.  Dennis. 
The  recent  General  Assembly  illustrated  the 
interest  created  by  the  revelations  made  by 
eloquent  missionaries  before  great  convoca¬ 
tions  of  Christian  people. 

It  is  a  proof  of  the  influence  of  missionary 
example  in  these  respects  that  governments 
are  now  taking  an  interest  in  philanthropic 
relief  which  was  not  witnessed  in  past  gen¬ 
erations.  How  inspiring  were  the  references 
made  in  a  recent  address  in  Carnegie  Hall  by 
the  President  of  the  United  States  of  our  dis 
interested  emancipation  of  Cuba  and  the 
prompt  action  of  our  national  Congress  for 
the  relief  of  the  sufferers  in  Martinique  and 

12 


St.  Vincent!  In  the  centuries  past  the  West 
Indies  have  slumbered  on  in  neglect,  often 
visited  by  pestilences,  often  devastated  by 
bloody  massacres  and  constantly  oppressed 
by  Spanish  misgovernment,  yet  it  was  scarce¬ 
ly  thought  that  our  people  should  do  any¬ 
thing  to  afford  relief.  But  a  point  has  now 
been  reached  on  which  the  sufferings  of  man 
kind  in  any  quarter  of  the  globe  cannot  pass 
unheeded.  A  new  era  in  diplomacy  has  been 
opened. 

We  have  not  yet  reached  the  millenium. 
There  are  still  great  evils  to  be  hunted  down 
and  extirpated.  The  sale  of  intoxicants  to 
the  ignorant  and  helpless  islanders  of  the  Pa¬ 
cific  and  the  equally  helpless  tribes  of  West 
Africa;  the  lurking  remnants  of  the  coolie 
trade,  which  it  seems  almost  impossible  to 
overcome ;  the  continued  barbarities  of  slave¬ 
hunting  in  East  Africa ;  the  oppressions  vis¬ 
ited  everywhere  by  stronger  nations  upon  the 
weaker — these  are  yet  to  be  overcome.  But 
when  we  consider  what  has  been  done  in  a 
third  of  a  century  it  is  impossible  not  to 
cherish  strong  faith  in  the  providence  of  God 
and  in  new  altruistic  movements  of  the  na¬ 
tions. 

There  is  an  old  prophecy  which  perhaps  the 
Church  has  been  too  ready  to  regard  as  a  mere 
rhetorical  expression,  which  reads,  “And  a 
highway  shall  be  there,  and  a  way,  and  it 
shall  be  called  The  way  of  holiness.”  This 
prediction  has  been  finding  wonderful  fulfill 
ment  in  our  generation.  This  has  been  the 
period  of  steam  navigation  of  the  oceans, 
which  are  now  all  covered  with  invisible 
paths  over  which,  in  defiance  of  wind  and 
wave,  great  steamers  go  forth  bearing  the 
fruits  of  civilization,  which  we  are  glad  to  be¬ 
lieve  contain  the  tidings  of  great  joy.  Let 

13 


us  claim  the  promise  that  all  these  shall  be 
the  ways  of  holiness.  It  is  remarkable  how 
the  prophecies  subsidize  all  agencies  and 
channels  of  traffic— the  ships  of  Tarshish  and 
the  dromedaries  of  Midian — to  the  service  of 
the  Redeemer.  The  electric  cable,  thrilling 
the  depths  of  the  sea  and  enabling  the  nations 
to  speak  as  it  were  ear  to  ear  and  in  a  mo¬ 
ment,  belongs  in  the  same  category.  As  a 
means  of  preparation,  railroad  lines  have 
been  opened  in  four  or  five  different  latitudes 
across  this  continent,  all  within  the  memory 
of  most  of  those  who  read  these  words.  Other 
lines  stretch  from  north  to  south,  connecting 
the  British  Dominions,  the  United  States  and 
Mexico.  We  have  already  alluded  to  the 
completion  of  a  railroad  in  the  Congo  Valley, 
and  the  partial  completion  of  a  line  from 
Egypt  to  Cape  Colony.  Perhaps  the  most 
stupendous  scheme  of  all  is  that  which  con¬ 
nects  Russia  with  Eastern  Siberia,  with 
branches  extending  southward  to  Constanti¬ 
nople,  again  to  Odessa,  again  to  Afghanistan, 
still  again  to  Port  Arthur,  with  prospects  at 
an  early  day  of  a  connection  with  Peking. 
Should  a  railroad  connection  in  the  coming 
generation  connect  Peking  with  Constanti¬ 
nople  and  Jerusalem,  Cairo  and  Cape  Town, 
and  another  extend  from  the  British  posses¬ 
sions  to  Mexico,  Central  America,  and  thence 
branching  to  Rio  and  Valparaiso,  it  would 
not  be  more  wonderful  than  what  we  have 
witnessed  in  our  own  day. 

On  the  human  side  we  cannot  claim  these 
as  direct  highways  for  the  chariot  of  redemp¬ 
tion.  The  progress  of  Russia  seems  to  be 
characterized  by  quite  another  spirit,  and  the 
greed  of  commerce  or  political  aggrandize¬ 
ment  seems  to  outrun  the  progress  of  the 
Christian  motive,  yet  I  believe  that  these  paths 

14 


are  to  be  the  highways  of  Gospel  progress, 
because  it  is  promised,  and  because  we  know 
that  the  King  of  kings  is  greater  and  of  more 
prevailing  power  than  Emperor,  or  Czar,  or 
Sultan.  The  providence  of  God  has  so  often 
triumphed  over  human  diplomacy,  good  has 
so  uniformly  come  forth  from  evil,  the  wrath 
of  man  has  in  so  many  signal  ways  promoted 
the  praise  of  God,  and  the  remainder  thereof 
has  so  many  times  been  restrained,  that  we 
are  confident  in  claiming  all  national  and 
commercial  advance  as  elements  in  the  com¬ 
plete  conquest  of  the  world. 

It  is  among  the  bright  auspices  of  our  time 
that  a  more  charitable  and  truly  catholic 
spirit  has  asserted  itself  between  Christian 
denominations.  Comity  and  co-operation, 
though  they  have  not  completed  their  work, 
have  made  great  advance.  Christian  churches 
of  different  names  are  living  in  more  peace¬ 
able  relations  toward  each  other.  Quite  re¬ 
cently  we  have  struck  out  of  our  Presbyterian 
Creed  the  long  standing  but  gratuitous  con¬ 
demnation  of  the  Papal  hierarchy.  Perhaps 
many  present  have  read  a  recent  article  in 
the  “  Outlook/'  entitled  “The  War  of  the 
Saints,”  in  which  the  bitterness  of  religious 
controversy  and  dissension  of  a  pqst  genera¬ 
tion  were  set  forth,  with  quotations  of  the 
stinging  vituperations  and  wholesale  denun¬ 
ciation  of  even  such  men  as  Wesley  and  Top- 
lady.  I  can  myself  recall  to  mind  the  time 
when  language  was  used  in  religious  contro 
versy  which  would  now  be  frowned  upon  even 
in  political  discussion.  An  age  of  courtesy 
and  tempered  speech  has  come.  Religious 
bodies  are  being  drawn  more  closely  to  each 
other  and  are  recognizing  the  fact  that  the 
cohorts  of  redemption  must  close  up  their 
ranks  for  a  united  conquest  of  the  great  and 

15 


intrenched  strongholds  of  heathen  error. 

A  significant  proof  of  the  change  in  this 
respect  is  seen  in  a  notable  appeal  made  two 
years  since  by  nine  Anglican  Bishops  in  In¬ 
dia.  They  say:  “We  heartily  invite  our  fel¬ 
low  Christians  of  all  denominations  to  join 
with  us  for  Christ’s  sake  in  the  fellowship  of 
good  works  and  the  cultivation  of  a  cheerful 
and  sympathetic  spirit  throughout  the  Chris¬ 
tian  world,  and  in  united  prayer  for  these 
certain  ends.”  With  regard  to  our  relations 
to  the  millions  of  non  Christians  in  India, 
they  add,  “We  do  not  forget  that  we  are  wit¬ 
nesses  to  the  faith  of  Christ  in  the  midst  of  a 
non  Christian  population,  and  while  we  can¬ 
not  afford  to  compromise  the  absolute  suprem 
acy  of  Christ,  we  yet  disclaim  for  ourselves 
and  we  deprecate  in  others  the  intention  or 
the  right  to  say  any  word  than  can  cause  just 
offense  in  the  minds  of  Hindus,  Mohamme¬ 
dans  or  Buddhists.” 

Another  element  in  the  progress  of  our  gen¬ 
eration  is  seen  in  what  we  may  call  the  con¬ 
vincing  demonstrations  of  missionary  success. 
The  statistics  of  church  membership,  or  edu: 
cation,  her  hospital  service,  though  interest¬ 
ing  and  cheering,  come  far  short  of  some 
other  factors  which  cannot  be  tabulated. 
There  are  victories  and  achievements  which 
no  intellectual  man  will  gainsay,  such  as  the 
transformation  of  the  entire  prevailing  senti¬ 
ment  of  a  nation.  For  example,  the  fact  that 
in  India  the  Arya  Somaj,  notwithstanding  all 
its  bitterness,  has  thrown  aside  many  of  the 
enormities  of  the  old  Hindu  cult  and  has 
adopted  the  ethics  of  the  New  Testament 
bodily.  As  another  example,  Mr.  Seder,  a 
missionary  in  Japan,  in  speaking  of  the  prog¬ 
ress  there  made,  says  most  truthfully  that 
the  introduction  of  Christianity  has  changed 

16 


the  whole  attitude  of  Japan  from  a  pessimistic 
to  an  optimistic  spirit ;  that  whereas  the  old 
Buddhist  religion  taught  men  that  the  great 
thing  was  to  get  out  of  the  world  and  enter' 
into  Nirvana,  the  religion  of  Christ  has  taught 
that  it  is  better  to  stay  in  the  world  and  help 
reform  it. 

Another  very  hopeful  element  in  our  pres¬ 
ent  outlook  is  the  widespread  movement  to¬ 
wards  self  support  of  the  native  churches.  It 
has  been  apparent  for  many  years  that  the 
conversion  of  the  heathen  world  by  the  pres¬ 
ent  effort  of  foreign  missionaries  is  an  impos¬ 
sibility.  In  the  main,  India  must  convert 
India,  and  China  must  convert  China.  A 
Christianity  worth  propagating  must  have 
enough  of  sinew  and  self  impelling  force  to 
carry  forward  the  wrork  begun  by  men  of 
other  lands.  Yet  most  missions  have  been 
handicapped  by  their  early  mistakes.  In  the 
generation  immediately  preceding  ours  it  had 
been  common  even  to  pay  for  the  privilege  of 
instructing  children,  and  I  can  well  remember 
when  in  our  missions  it  was  customary  to 
bear  nearly  all  expense  for  the  employment 
of  helpers,  for  the  building  of  chapels  and 
school  buildings,  and  even  for  fuel  and  lights 
and  janitor’s  service.  It  is  a  herculean  task 
to  escape  from  the  bondage  of  old  mistakes, 
or  to  arouse  people  from  wrong  habits  of  de¬ 
pendence.  Nevertheless,  beginnings  have 
been  made  even  where  old  errors  were  to  be 
corrected,  while  in  new  missions  surprising 
results  have  attended  the  development  of 
self-support.  In  our  Korea  Mission  marked 
success  has  been  gained  from  the  first.  Thus, 
according  to  the  last  report  of  the  Pyeng 
Yang  Station,  it  has  “  one  central  church 
with  18  associated  places  of  meeting;  179  rec¬ 
ognized  out- stations,  each  having  from  1  to  6 

17 


meeting  places,  and  16  or  more  additional 
groups.  The  total  adult  membership  numbers 
2,944.  Seven  hundred  and  eighty -four  adults 
were  baptized  on  profession  during  the  year; 
there  are  3,837  catechumens,  making  a  total  of 
11,905  adherents  who  are  more  or  less  regular 
church  attendants.  Of  the  native  assistants 
there  are  73  unsalaried  local  leaders  and  19 
helpers  who  travel  on  circuits.  All  but  6 
helpers  are  supported  by  the  people.  There 
are  152  churches  and  chapel  buildings,  nearly 
all  provided  by  the  people.  Forty -six  have 
been  built  this  year.  There  are  41  school¬ 
teachers,  30  of  whom  are  supported  by  the 
people.”  This  is  characteristic  of  the  whole 
Korean  Mission. 

At  the  Ecumenical  Conference  of  1900,  Rev. 
Sumner  R.  Vinton,  American  Baptist  mis¬ 
sionary  in  Burma,  reported  that  “  in  Burma 
there  were  112  distinct  Baptist  churches  with 
6,600  members.  These  had  been  self  support¬ 
ing  from  the  start.  Twenty-five  of  the 
churches  have  ordained  pastors.  The  bulk  of 
the  other  preachers  are  seminary  trained 
men,  supported  by  the  churches.  Nearly  all 
of  the  American  money  that  goes  to  this  mis¬ 
sion  is  for  the  salary  of  the  missionaries.  Not 
one  cent  goes  to  the  support  of  pastor  or 
church.  This  work  is  so  organized  that  the 
stronger  churches  help  the  weaker  ones  to 
pay  their  expenses.  More  than  this,  they 
support  their  own  primary  schools,  almost 
every  church  having  its  school.” 

But  perhaps  the  most  notable  development 
of  an  independent  native  church  is  to  be 
found  in  Uganda.  At  a  church  congress  held 
some  months  ago  in  England,  Bishop  Tucker, 
speaking  for  Uganda,  said: 

“Ten  years  ago  the  number  of  baptized 
Christians  was  something  like  300.  To-day  it 


18 


is  30,000,  an  increase  of  exactly  a  hundred¬ 
fold. 

“Ten  years  ago  there  was  but  one  church 
— one  place  of  Christian  worship — in  the 
whole  of  Uganda.  To-day  there  are  700. 

“Ten  years  ago  there  were  but  some 
twenty  native  evangelists  at  work.  To-day 
there  are  some  2,000  Baganda  men  and  women 
definitely  engaged  in  the  work  of  the  church 
— again  an  increase  of  exactly  a  hundred  fold. 

“Ten  years  ago  Uganda  was  the  only  coun¬ 
try  in  those  regions  in  which  the  name  of 
Christ  had  been  proclaimed.  To-day  Busoga 
in  the  east,  where  Bishop  Hannington  was  so 
cruelly  done  to  death,  has  received  the  Gospel 
message,  and  only  recently  more  than  a 
thousand  men  and  women  were  gathered  to¬ 
gether  in  our  central  station  for  the  worship 
of  the  One  True  and  Living  God.  Bunyoro, 
in  the  north,  has  in  like  manner  been  entered, 
and  that  old-time  center  of  slave  raiding  and 
trading  is  fast  yielding  to  the  claims  of  all- 
conquering  Christ.  Toro,  too,  in  the  west, 
where  on  the  borders  of  the  Congo  Free  State 
the  snow  clad  mountain  range  of  Ruwenzori 
rears  its  giant  crest  to  heaven,  has  also  ac¬ 
cepted  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus.  And  even 
now  that  infant  church  is  sending  forth  her 
missionaries  into  the  regions  beyond. 

“And  who  has  been  the  instrument  in  all 
this  widespread  evangelistic  and  missionary 
effort  ?  It  has  been  the  Muganda  himself. 
The  Church  of  Uganda  is  a  self-extending 
Church,  because  from  the  very  beginning, 
the  plan  which  has  been  adopted  has  been 
that  of  laying  upon  each  individual  convert 
the  responsibility  of  handing  on  that  truth 
which  he  himself  has  received,  and  which  has 
made  him  ‘wise  unto  salvation.’  Nor  is  this 
all.  The  churches  and  schools  of  the  coun- 

i9 


try,  some  700  in  number,  are  built,  repaired 
and  maintained  by  the  natives  themselves. 
In  one  word,  the  whole  work  of  the  Native 
Church — its  educational,  pastoral  and  mis¬ 
sionary  work — is  maintained  entirely  from 
native  sources.  Not  one  single  halfpenny  of 
English  money  is  employed  in  its  mainte¬ 
nance.” 

These  are  incontestable  testimonies  which 
no  advocate  of  the  old  methods  can  gainsay, 
and  they  are  full  of  promise  of  what  the 
churches  of  heathen  lands  everywhere  may 
yet  do  for  the  millions  of  their  own  races. 

One  more  sign  of  promise  I  may  add  before 
closing,  and  that  is  an  awakened  attention  on 
all  hands  to  a  widespread,  more  earnest  and 
more  hopeful  effort  to  gather  in  the  masses 
of  the  unsaved,  and  to  do  it  now.  There  has 
been  a  great  change  in  this  respect.  There  is 
an  advance  among  our  home  churches;  evan¬ 
gelistic  movements  for  the  ingathering  of  the 
impenitent  have  come  to  occupy  a  larger  place 
than  ever  before,  and  in  some  mission  fields 
the  same  movement  has  begun.  There  are 
not  as  many  missionaries  as  there  were  for¬ 
merly  who  say,  “We  have  nothing  to  do  with 
results;  we  are  simply  to  preach  the  Gospel, 
whether  men  hear  or  whether  they  forbear.” 
There  is  a  feeling  abroad  that  we  are  probably 
on  the  eve  of  a  great  Pentecostal  ingathering 
in  our  mission  fields.  In  Japan  foretastes  of 
such  a  blessing  have  already  been  experienced, 
and  the  missionaries  in  Japan  are  asking  for 
a  special  evangelist  to  preach  directly  and 
searchingly  to  educated  Japanese  students 
and  other  educated  men  in  the  hope  that  mul¬ 
titudes  of  them  will  be  led  to  accept  Christ  at 
once.  Such  indeed  was  the  case  not  many 
months  ago  during  the  visit  and  the  labors  of 
Mr.  John  R.  Mott.  There  have  been  repeated 

20 


instances  which  show  that  great  success  may 
be  near. 

In  closing  this  paper  I  cannot  overlook  one 
fact  which  casts  its  shadow  upon  all  that  has 
been  said,  and  that  is,  the  inadequacy  of  the 
work  of  the  past  generation  in  comparison 
with  what  should  have  been  done.  We  have 
had  much  to  be  thankful  for,  but  why  has  not 
the  Gospel  been  given  to  all  men  according  to 
the  means  which  God  has  given  to  His  Church  ? 
Surely  to  each  generation  of  Christian  men 
and  women  is  assigned  the  duty  of  evangeliz 
ing  those  who  live  while  they  live,  and  will 
die  when  they  die.  Christian  ambassadors  of 
the  past  cannot  do  this,  they  of  the  future 
cannot  do  it.  We  must  remember  that  man¬ 
kind  are  a  passing  throng.  The  other  day  I 
saw  a  regiment  of  soldiers  march  down  Broad¬ 
way  separated  and  spaced  by  companies. 
Even  so  God  is  marching  the  unblessed  mil¬ 
lions  across  this  earth  in  battalions  of  a  gen¬ 
eration  each,  and  to  the  believers  of  each 
period  the  Great  Commission  is  given  afresh. 

We  easily  fall  into  the  idea  that  the  world 
has  been  the  same  all  the  time.  It  is  not  the 
same.  You  who  now  go  forth  in  youth  to  do 
your  part  are  confronted  by  a  different  world 
from  that  to  which  missionaries  went  forth 
forty  years  ago.  These  solemn  facts  add 
their  emphasis  to  what  has  been  said  of  the 
duty  of  urging  the  masses  of  men  to  accept 
the  Gospel  now. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  generation  in  which 
my  lifework  has  been  spent.  What  shall  be 
said  years  hence  of  that  in  which  you  now  be¬ 
gin  your  labors  ?  Has  not  the  time  come  in¬ 
deed,  after  so  slow  a  pace  and  so  many  delays, 
for  a  general  movement  all  along  the  line,  at 
home  and  abroad  ?  God  grant  that  this  may 
be  so,  and  may  He  bestow  upon  each  of  you 

21 


the  divine  equipment  of  which  Paul  speaks  as 
“  the  armor  of  God.” 

I  am  impressed  with  the  fact  that  when  I 
bid  you  good  bye  it  is  for  the  last  time.  My 
colleagues,  I  trust,  will  meet  you  as  you  re¬ 
turn  from  your  furloughs.  I  shall  not.  But 
I  can  assure  you  of  my  earnest  prayers  that 
He  who  ever  liveth  may  be  with  you  to  the 
end,  and  that  His  grace  may  be  sufficient  for 
you. 


Form  111. 


